Morris and Stone Clash in Grand Blanc Victory

Friday, February 10, 2006

By Andrew Clark

greatlakeshoops.com

Swartz Creek-- On January 10^th, the Swartz Creek Dragons went into Grand Blanc and surprised the Bobcats with a 60-57 upset. The Bobcats refused to let the same fate happen twice in a season against the same team.

With six lead changes in the first 6:32 of the game, it seemed as if the outcome would be similar to the last time these two teams played; a close game that would come down to the wire. The biggest lead during this time came after Swartz Creek senior, Will Hanson, hit a 3-pointer to put the Dragons up 13-9.

Sean Dyer’s field goal with 7:25 left in the first half capped off a 16-2 run by the Bobcats that brought the score to 25-15 in favor of Grand Blanc. Swartz Creek then took Grand Blanc’s lead down to 25-23 after an 8-0 scoring run of their own. Not to be outdone, the Bobcats followed the trend and put together another big scoring run to close out the half, taking a 38-25 lead into halftime.

Once the second half began, the Dragons started to regain some momentum after bringing the score to 38-29 with 6:07 left in the third quarter. This was the closest the Dragons were to a lead for the rest of the game because Grand Blanc held tight to the momentum and never let Swartz Creek build up a significant amount. The largest lead, however, was held after Grand Blanc’s K’Len Morris made a lay-up to increase the Bobcat’s lead to 53-32.

As the end of the game neared, the Dragons slowly brought the score to a more respectable level. In the final seconds of the game, Will Hanson dunked the ball in frustration to bring the final score to 68-58, though the game wasn’t as close as the score indicates.

Game Notes

-Nothing against Swartz Creek, but their gym has to be my least favorite in the Big Nine. Not only is it small, hot, and old, but the lighting is absolutely terrible. My eyes literally hurt after the game because I was straining so much to see.

-The season series between Swartz Creek and Grand Blanc ended tonight. Despite Grand Blanc winning the point battle 125-118, the two teams ended up splitting the match-up.  

-Swartz Creek’s Russell Hope, a freshman starter, is going to be one of the area’s top players by the time he is a senior. He has a great feel for the game and seems very natural in the way he plays. In both games that I have seen him play, he has started and played every minute. Tonight he played exceptional, hitting 4/6 from 3-point range, giving him 12 points on the night. He also handed out five assists and grabbed two rebounds. He is only going to improve with age and experience--next year the Metro League had better watch out.

-Grand Blanc sophomore Adrian Hunter earned his first start tonight. This was a combination of his outstanding play off the bench, and the shooting struggles of senior Erik Tucker. In the last two games, Tucker has shot 1/ 12 from the field, including 1/10 from the 3-point line, which in the past has been his specialty. Hunter, on the other hand, used tonight’s opportunity to his advantage. He scored 6 points on 3/9 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out two assists.

-Swartz Creek’s senior Galen Stone played lights out tonight. He shot 11/17 from the field, including 1/1 from 3-point range and 4/5 from the free throw line. This added up to 27 points on the night. He also grabbed six rebounds, handed out two assists, blocked a shot and had a steal. Along with Hope and Hanson, Stone was the entire team for Swartz Creek tonight. His only slip up was when he was charged with a technical foul because he said something the referee didn’t like. This came after Stone blocked a Lance Smith lay-up attempt.

My game ball goes to: Senior K’Len Morris of Grand Blanc. Only one player on the court tonight played better than Galen Stone; and that was Morris. Morris tallied a career high 30 points on 12/18 shooting, including 5/7 from beyond the arc, and 1/4 from the free throw line. He also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out two assists, and had two steals. One more amazing thing about Morris’ performance tonight was that three of his five three pointers were from at least NBA-range, if not farther back than that.